Economics

News about economics, including commentary and archival articles published in The New York Times.

Chronology of Coverage

Mar. 15, 2015

Ross Douthat Op-Ed column examines ways both culture and economics contribute to social crisis in poor and working class; criticizes those on left who discount idea of culture as major contributing factor; maintains that recognition of culture's effect on behavior does not automatically lead to denunciations about moral deprivations of poor. MORE

Feb. 28, 2015

Nobel medal awarded in 1971 to economist Simon Kuznets sells at auction by Nate D Sanders Auctions for $390,848; is first medal from field of economics ever sold. MORE

Jan. 25, 2015

The Upshot; Tyler Cowen Economic View column examines research on the relationship between economics and social tolerance, noting limitations of widely-held view that open economies lead to open minds about race and sexual orientation; observes that economic forces can only account for so much, and that a society's qualitative aspects are also strongly at work. MORE

Jan. 24, 2015

Analysis of language in the New York Times archives reveals persistent rise in the use of the term 'economist' over the past century; data indicates increasing fascination with the social sciences in general and economics in particular. MORE

Jan. 11, 2015

The Upshot; many economists have attempted to come up with ways to encourage people to exercise, although many of these ideas run up against reality that many gyms want their members to pay not to exercise. MORE

Jan. 3, 2015

Vikas Bajaj Editorial Notebook holds that economist Thomas Piketty's rejection of French government's Legion of Honor Award is significant because it comes at time when France is struggling to revive its economy; reflects that it makes sense that Piketty does not want to share in France's economic missteps. MORE

Dec. 21, 2014

The Upshot; most economists, if asked, would likely call notion of gift-giving irrational and economically wasteful, yet most economists in all likelihood give gifts anyway; much of the problem with gift-giving, economically speaking, is that many gifts that are given are bad. MORE

Dec. 12, 2014

David Brooks Op-Ed column observes emergence of new kind of policy making in some areas of world based on idea that humans do not always make decisions in a rational or unbiased way; notes World Bank report detailing how insights of behavioral economics can be applied to global development and health; says that policies informed by behavioral economics are rooted in real human behavior, cheap yet effective and often superior to larger, more abstract policy favored by some governments. MORE

Oct. 15, 2014

The Upshot; interview with Nobel Prize-winning French economist Jean Tirole features him discussing net neutrality, Amazon.com and his current research interests. MORE

Oct. 14, 2014

French economist Jean Tirole, who has spent decades dissecting imperfect markets, wins Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science; Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences says he has provided insight into how governments can best tame powerful firms and crack down on harmful monopolies. MORE

Sep. 15, 2014

Paul Krugman Op-Ed column examines way discipline of economics went astray in lead-up to 2008 economic crisis; offers reminder that failings of economics were greatly aggravated by sins of economists and public policy makers. MORE

Aug. 1, 2014

Paul Krugman Op-Ed column discusses troubling question of whether we as societies are even capable of taking good economic policy advice; contends when politicians pick and choose which experts to believe, the odds are that they will choose badly; concludes one has to wonder whether and how the nation will avoid disaster. MORE

Jul. 13, 2014

Binyamin Appelbaum It's the Economy column examines surprisingly distinguished history of idea that Protestantism is good for the economy, theory espoused by Representative-elect David Brat of Virginia; notes Republican Party is increasingly populated by people who profess belief in both capitalism and Christianity. MORE

Jul. 7, 2014

Paul Krugman Op-Ed column holds that wishful thinking, which often leads to willful ignorance of facts, is at work in United States economic policies; points to conservative economists' warnings of runaway interests rates and inflation and their refusal to acknowledge that dire predictions have not come true; holds ideology drives economic views as much as it shapes religious beliefs, and faith often trumps evidence. MORE

Jun. 29, 2014

Jeff Sommer Strategies column examines implications of Supreme Court ruling in case concerning asbestos liabilities, arguing that it will make it harder for investors to prevail in some big class-action lawsuits; notes that in its ruling, court delved into complex issues of economic theory, updating its notion of market efficiency in a way that will allow corporate defendants to argue that official misstatements did not affect market prices. MORE

Jun. 15, 2014

Gray Matter column by Prof Ignacio Palacios-Huerta notes that World Cup offers economists opportunity to collect data and test theories, such as the economics of discrimination, fear and dark side of incentives in organizations; notes his own research into penalty kicks and the way they can test the idea of the Nash equilibrium. MORE

May. 24, 2014

News analysis; Financial Times report throws doubt on data at the core of Thomas Piketty's blockbuster book about inequality Capital in the Twenty-First Century; newspaper's report will open new debate on how reliable book's excavation of historical patterns of income and wealth truly is, and it questions whether book is built on bad math. MORE

May. 5, 2014

Gary S Becker, who won Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science in 1992, dies at age 83; his research illuminated motivations about such aspects of everyday life as marriage, crime, addiction, racial discrimination and birthrates. MORE

Apr. 20, 2014

Thomas Piketty's book Capital in the Twenty-First Century punctures assumptions about the benevolence of advanced capitalism and forecasts sharply increasing inequality of wealth in industrialized countries, with deep and deleterious impact on democratic values of justice and fairness; has become blockbuster in the world of economics. MORE

Apr. 18, 2014

American Economic Association awards 2014 John Bates Clark Medal to Matthew Gentzkow, economics professor at University of Chicago Booth School of Business; he has done innovative work analyzing issues like bias in the press and the impact of media on society. MORE

Apr. 9, 2014

Eduardo Porter Economic Scene column; International Monetary Fund is moving away from its single-minded focus on spending cuts, broadening its scope to address income inequality; new emphasis on financial stability suggests emergence of consensus that economic policy cannot only be about promoting low inflation and robust growth, but also on reasonably equitable distribution of rewards. MORE

Mar. 23, 2014

N Gregory Mankiw Economic View column contends that advice from economists on policy is based not just on their understanding of how the world works, but also on political philosophy--their judgements about what makes a good society; cautions that economics is a science in its infancy, and that recommendations should be made with humility. MORE

Mar. 16, 2014

Tyler Cowen Economic View column offers game theory analysis of crisis in the Ukraine; notes that while country lost the advantage of nuclear deterrence as part of separation from Russia in the early 1990s, it can still wield market deterrence with strong backing from Western allies. MORE

Mar. 2, 2014

Robert J Shiller Economic View column examines Bitcoin phenomenon, saying its future is very much in doubt, but its innovations can lead to benefits for economy; notes that it has fluctuated wildly in value, but it could point the way to a system of better pricing and risk management. MORE

Jan. 19, 2014

Robert J Shiller Economic View column; three Nobel economics lectures by Eugene F Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and the author continue discussion that divides economists, on whether people are really rational in their economic decision making. MORE

Jan. 4, 2014

George J W Goodman, who demystified financial complexities in best-selling books and on a long-running public television program under the name of one of history’s most famous economists, Adam Smith, dies at age 83. MORE

Nov. 24, 2013

Catherine Rampell It's the Economy column examines why prices of frozen turkeys drop significantly every November, right when demand for them is highest; notes fact defies basic economic principles, and there are many competing theories to explain phenomenon. MORE

Nov. 17, 2013

Jeff Sommer Strategies column notes that Lars Peter Hansen, economist who shared the 2013 Nobel Prize in economic science with Eugene Fama and Robert Shiller, will not let himself be drawn into the debate among them on the financial markets' behavior; his recent work has dealt with linkages between markets and the economy. MORE

Oct. 27, 2013

Robert J Shiller Economic View; co-winner of 2013 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science explains areas of disagreement with his fellow laureates Eugene F Fama and Lars Peter Hansen; notes this is not the first time co-recipients have had differing views. MORE

Oct. 27, 2013

Jeff Sommer interview with Eugene F Fama, economist and co-winner of 2013 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science; he is known as the father of the efficient-markets theory. MORE

Oct. 21, 2013

Ray Dalio, the founder of the largest hedge fund, offers a 30-minute lecture in how the economy works. No tuition necessary, just a connection to YouTube. MORE

Oct. 21, 2013

Raj Chetty Op-Ed article disputes criticisms lobbed at field of economics by some skeptics after Nobel prizes were awarded to three economists with opposing ideas; refutes idea that disagreements about answers to specific questions provides evidence that economics is fake science. MORE

Oct. 20, 2013

Robert J Shiller, Yale professor and co-winner of Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science, talks in interview about forces that made him a questioning, data-driven economist. MORE

Oct. 15, 2013

Professors Eugene F Fama, Lars Peter Hansen and Robert J Shiller share the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science; their work shows that stock and bond prices move unpredictably in short term but tend to follow established rules in the long term; Fama believes in rational market, while Shiller does not. MORE

Sep. 15, 2013

Robert H Frank Economic View column holds notes that late Nobel laureate in economics Ronald H Coase is revered by free-market enthusiasts who see his arguments as favoring limited government; contends, however, that that view of his work is profoundly mistaken, and in time his framework will instead be seen as providing not only best explanation for why governments regulate in ways they do, but also best advice on how they might regulate more effectively. MORE

Sep. 11, 2013

Wynne Godley, relatively obscure British economist of the Levy Economics Institute who died in 2010, helped develop formal models that foresaw the financial crisis of the late 2000s, but underestimated its depth; his influence has begun to spread, and several groups of economists in North America and Europe are building on his models. MORE

Sep. 1, 2013

Sunday Dialogue about the nature of economics and science, in response to letter from Eric S Maskin, 2007 Nobel laureate in economics. MORE

Aug. 29, 2013

Letter from Prof Eric S Maskin, 2007 Nobel Laureate in economics, comments on August 25 The Stone column by Profs Alex Rosenberg and Tyler Curtain that suggests economics does not qualify as a science. MORE

Aug. 12, 2013

Paul Krugman Op-Ed column contends the diminished position economist Milton Friedman holds in conservative thought underscores fact that realism has no place in today's Republican Party. MORE

Jul. 5, 2013

Profile of hedge fund executive Warren Mosler, who is waging well-financed academic battle against economists who promote austerity; Mosler's 'modern monetary theory' argues that government should be free to spend robustly to revive economy, and that there is no real need for balanced budget. MORE

May. 19, 2013

N Gregory Mankiw Economic View column observes that economists, including himself, have studied the stock market extensively, but that does not make them good stock pickers; offers summary of what they know. MORE

May. 12, 2013

Robert H Frank Economic View column relates how, in an introductory course on economics, he found that requiring graduate students to ask everyday questions about costs and benefits based on something they have observed or experienced is an effective way to teach economic principles. MORE

May. 7, 2013

Harvard professor and economics commentator Niall Ferguson issues apology for suggesting that John Maynard Keynes was indifferent to long-term implications of his economic theories because Keynes was gay and had no children MORE

Apr. 24, 2013

Eduardo Porter Economic Scene column says that a series of financial jolts have shaken the economy in recent decades, but experts are no closer to understanding how such problems develop; International Monetary Fund hosts a conference of some of the world's top macroeconomic experts to come up with answers, but has little luck in doing so. MORE

Apr. 19, 2013

Paul Krugman Op-Ed column notes results contained within widely hailed 2010 paper written by Harvard economists Carmen Reinhart and Kenneth Rogoff, which was embraced by fiscal austerity advocates, have been shown to be product of coding error; contends fiasco shows extent to which austerity measures have been sold on false pretenses. MORE

Mar. 17, 2013

Tyler Cowen Economic View column asserts that economic is sometimes associated with study and defense of selfishness and material inequality, but it has egalitarian and civil libertarian core that should be celebrated; says that core could have surprising implications in the debate over immigration. MORE

Mar. 10, 2013

Adam Davidson It's the Economy column describes using game theory that economists applied during the cold war in his effort to lose weight. MORE

Feb. 10, 2013

N Gregory Mankiw Economic View column contends that many economists are receptive to concept of immigration; holds both conservative and liberal economists, whether they have libertarian or egalitarian streaks, recognize that their profession has benefited greatly from influx of talent from abroad. MORE

Oct. 16, 2012

Americans Alvin E Roth and Lloyd S Shapley are awarded Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science for their work on market design and matching theory, which relate to how people and companies find and select one another. MORE

Aug. 12, 2012

Tyler Cowen Economic View column contends that how China responds to its serious economic problems could bend the course of the global economy; points out Keynesian economics holds that aggregate demand drives stability, and that government can and should help in difficult times; notes the Austrian perspective, championed by many libertarians and conservatives, emphasizes how government policy often makes things worse, not better; concludes the jury is out as to which view will prevail in China. MORE

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